Amitav Ghosh, Margaret Atwood, Say NO to Prizes from the Israeli Apartheid!

OPEN LETTER
March 30, 2010

Dear Margaret Atwood, Amitav Ghosh,

We are Israeli citizens and residents, Jews and Palestinians, who are committed to the Palestinian struggle for justice and freedom. We heard with dismay that you are set to attend this spring an apartheid-complicit[1] Tel Aviv University's symposium, where you are to receive a prize. We urge you to heed the Palestinian call for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions[2], reject that prize, and refrain from attending the symposium or any other Israeli academic event.

Palestinians are denied any democratic liberties and are harshly and collectively repressed when trying to struggle for their freedom, even if non-violently[3]. They are subjected to an apartheid regime that denies refugees’ right of return, discriminates against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and implement a cruel form of occupation, including a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip. By engaging in boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) you can help raise the oppressed Palestinian voice instead of adopting a "business as usual" attitude towards the Israeli regime and its academic institutions, all of which are state-run and state-funded.

After years of attempts to change the minds and hearts of the Israeli public, we also believe that this change can be achieved now only through significant external pressure. As time passes by, we witness our society becoming more and more callous and stuck on its racist track. Since the beginning of the "peace talks" period, we witness Israel and its supporters abroad attempting to portray the oppressor and oppressed as two equal sides in a conflict to be remedied if they simply straightened out their mutual differences.

Today, many people around the world mark the 2nd Global Day of Action on BDS against Israel[4]. BDS means power to the people in a time when world governments fail to act accordingly. We call on you to be one of those who help bring justice and freedom for the Palestinian people, by denying legitimacy to the Israeli apartheid and its institutions.